Written questions by Wood.

If he will publish the declarations of interest of each member of the Child Poverty Taskforce.

The Child Poverty Taskforce is a ministerial taskforce and members' interests are published regularly, in line with the Ministerial Code.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2024 to Question 18221 on Supreme Court: Judgments, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Supreme Court ruling on the (a) practices of the Cabinet Office and (b) its Arms Length Bodies.

As the ruling has no direct impact on the Cabinet Office, no considerations have been made as yet. The Cabinet Office will consider the impact, on the department and its Arms Length Bodies, in due course.

Whether there is a framework agreement in place for the Senior Salaries Review Body.

The Cabinet Office is actively working to finalise a Framework Agreement for the Senior Salaries Review Body. This will be agreed in due course.

What (a) countries and (b) international organisations the (i) Office for National Statistics and (ii) UK Statistics Authority has (A) signed and (B) planned to sign co-operation agreements or treaties with.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 22nd April is attached.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2024 to Question 10991 on Civil Service: Zero Hours Contracts, how many Cabinet Office (a) staff and (b) contractors are on zero hour contracts in the most recent period for which data is available.

Cabinet Office has 423 Contingent Labour workers on zero hour contracts as at 28 April 2025 via the contract Cabinet Office has with Alexander Mann Solutions Ltd. Cabinet Office uses zero hours contracts to selectively manage temporary demand. To end exploitative zero hours contracts, under the government’s plans to Make Work Pay legislation will be brought in to give workers on zero hours contracts and workers with a ‘low’ number of guaranteed hours, who regularly work more than these hours, the ability to move to guaranteed hours contracts which reflect the hours they regularly work over a 12-week reference period.

With reference to the Public and Commercial Services Union's press notice entitled PCS demands Cabinet Office meeting over Gaza, published on 26 July 2024, what discussions his Department has had with PCS.

The Cabinet Office regularly holds discussions with trade unions including the Public and Commercial Services Union. These discussions relate to Civil Service workforce matters. Information about Cabinet Office ministers' meetings are released quarterly on .gov.uk as part of the department’s transparency publications and can be found here.

With reference to his Department's guidance entitled Freedom of Information - FOI clearing house review, updated on 14 December 2023, when he plans to publish the guidance on cross-cutting themes that are specific to central government.

The Cabinet Office has published guidance on ‘Freedom of Information and the Role of Special Advisers’ and on ‘Communication by Spreadsheet’ on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-and-freedom-of-information.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2024 to Question 18822 on Government Departments: Social Media, how much his Department has spent on social media advertising, by individual firm since 5 July 2024.

Please see below Cabinet Office spend by social platform from 5 July 2024 to 8 April 2025: PlatformTotal SpendMeta£533,432.96LinkedIn£59,908.73Snapchat£62,535.42Reddit£840.75

What steps his Department is taking to increase funding for security vetting.

United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) is funded by its customers (government departments, the police, industry) through a burden-sharing model. Funding is agreed with customers on an annual basis, and in parallel with Cabinet Office business planning. In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 6074 on Special advisers, whether his Department has set a maximum cap on the number of special advisers who can be appointed.

In line with the Ministerial Code, Cabinet Ministers and, with the authorisation of the Prime Minister, Ministers who regularly attend Cabinet, may appoint special advisers. All special adviser appointments require approval of the Prime Minister.

Whether his Department has received recent representations from firms involved in transactions referred to his Department under the National Security and Investment Act since 5 July 2024.

Parties with an interest in acquisitions being reviewed under the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act 2021 can submit representations via the Investment Security Unit in the Cabinet Office. Given potential commercial and security sensitivities, the Government will not generally comment on review of specific acquisitions under the NSI Act, including what, if any, representations have been received.

With reference to the report entitled Security and Intelligence Agencies Financial Statement 2023-24, published on 2 December 2024, whether he has considered publishing the individual governance statements for the security and intelligence agencies.

As has been the policy of successive governments, the government does not comment on matters relating to the intelligence agencies. The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament scrutinises the policies, expenditure, administration and operations of the intelligence agencies on behalf of Parliament.

How many times the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals has met since 4 July 2024; and when those meetings occurred.

Since 4 July 2024, the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals has met on two occasions - 1st August and 19th November.

How many Cabinet Office staff appointed by exception on a temporary basis were subsequently made full-time employees in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

In the last 12 months, no Cabinet Office employees have been made permanent using Exception 10 (conversion to permanency of suitable candidates appointed under Exception 1 and 2) of the Civil Service Recruitment Principles.

With reference to Q45 of the oral evidence given by his Department's Permanent Secretary to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on 4 December 2024, HC 463, if he will list the employers in the civil service.

The UK civil service is made up of civil servants employed at over 100 Ministerial and Non-Ministerial Departments, Executive Agencies and Crown NDPBs. These are listed and published each quarter by Office for National Statistics at Table 9 of their quarterly public sector employment statistics available at the following web address:https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/publicsectoremploymentreferencetable

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2024 to Question 5306 on Special Advisers, if he will set out the (a) Minister and (b) senior civil servant in (i) Downing Street and (ii) each department that determines whether a special adviser's appointment is confirmed after the probationary period.

I refer the Hon. member to the answer to PQ 5306.

If he will include the policy areas that each Number 10 special adviser works on in the next published list of special advisers.

In line with the approach under previous administrations, the Government does not publish specific responsibilities of individual special advisers in the Annual Report on Special Advisers.

What the total cost was of the Civil Service paybill, by (a) salary costs, (b) National Insurance Contributions, (c) employer Pension Contributions, (d) severance costs and (e) total pay costs in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Salary data for the Civil Service is published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics, an Accredited Official Statistics release. The most recent salary cost figures as at 31st March 2024 were provided in response to Peter Bedford MP’s question on 16th October 2024. The latest estimates of the total paybill with and without estimated employer National Insurance contributions were provided in response to Richard Holden MP’s question on 8th April 2025. Both Employer Pension contributions and severance costs are not published by the Cabinet Office. For 2024/25, departmental pay awards have been made within the controls of the 2024/25 Pay Remit Guidance. Information on total paybill costs may be published by individual departments, but there is no routine publication of the overall Civil Service paybill figure.

Whether the Prime Minister must approve updates to guidance referenced within the Ministerial Code.

The Ministerial Code refers to a range of duties, obligations and guidance. The Code is the Prime Minister’s document and he is responsible for deciding which duties, obligations and guidance it refers to.

With reference to paragraph 1.41 of the Civil Superannuation Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24, HC481, which employers are part of the Civil Service Scheme.

The requested information can be found in the attached document.